The New Mutants 1-100 a nice set to put together featuring the 1st appearances of Deadpool & Cable.
Anyone looking for a relatively affordable and achievable 1980s Marvel series to collect could do worse than consider putting together a run of volume one of The New Mutants. The actual series itself ran for a nice round 100 issues between 1983 & 1991, and despite being cancelled was revived as X-Force later that year.
New Mutants Issue 1
With the exception of issues 87 and 98, the issues are relatively inexpensive and are not surprisingly entertaining to read (for superhero fans anyway) having had talented creative teams. The story development was also aided by their only being two main writers over the first 96 issues, these being “Mr X-Men” Chris Claremont (up to issue 55), and Louise Simonson. The last three issues were created largely by Rob Liefeld and included the introduction of one of the most popular X characters Deadpool. For the completist’s the team first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel 4 from 1982 which was itself a cumulation of sorts of the plotline from Uncanny X-Men 161.
Main characters.
The series introduced a plethora of characters a couple of which became major names in the Marvel Universe, while others were killed off or are currently, anyway little-known. New Mutants issue one kicked off with the same team from Marvel Graphic Novel 4, but soon augmented the roster adding:
Cypher – Douglas Ramsey.
Magik – Illyana Rasputin, the sister of X-Man Colossus
Magma – Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla (who thought that one up!)
Warlock, an extra-terrestrial.
When Louise Simonson took over, she changed the cast further adding:
Boom-Boom – Tabitha Smith
Rusty Collins
Rictor – Julio Richter
Skids – Sally Blevins.
Despite being an interesting premise, teenagers with superpowers and the problems that go with it the title never really got the recognition it deserved until Rob Liefeld took over and introduced the two most popular characters ever to appear in the series Cable & Deadpool. He also introduced Domino (although in typical Marvel fashion it wasn’t the true Domino) and in issue 99 three more characters – Feral – Maria Callasantos, Shatterstar – Gaveedra Seven & Warpath – James Proudstar who would become part of the new X-Force title.
Main Story Arcs
The title featured in several of the major Marvel crossover stories although not always as an integral part including Atlantis Attacks, Acts of Vengeance Inferno & Secret Wars II. The title was also part of two mutant based crossovers, Mutant Massacre & Fall of the Mutants. It also had two individual story arcs which are worth looking for even if you don’t intend to put together a full set; these being:
The Demon Bear Saga – which ran through issues 18-21 and featured some incredible Bill Sienkiewicz art.
Curse of the Valkyries – which sees the team embroiled in Asgardian mythology (issues 77-85).
The Rob Liefeld Era.
Rob Liefeld joined the creative team from issue 85 (as the joint cover artist) and took on the pencilling duties from issue 86. He is credited with the introduction of Cable who would go on to become one of Marvel’s more popular X-Men and later, of course, the cult character Deadpool. His whole run from 86 to 100 are often collected as a set.
Rob Liefeld’s First Work on the title as joint cover artist.
Key Issues:
Although, as already mentioned the title introduced a number of characters very few have caught the imagination. The main issues to look for are:
New Mutants 87 first full appearance of Cable.
Also available as a second print with a Gold background.
New Mutants 98 first full appearance of Deadpool.
The key comic in the run Deadpool’s first appearance
These two issues alone are currently valued at more than the rest of the run put together and although not rare, are often missing from runs. This is because many collectors will want to have these two key issues even if they are not interested in the rest of the set.
Other ones worth looking for are:
Issue 14 in which Illyana Rasputin joins the team
The sister of Colossus who first appeared back in Giant-Size X-Men 1.
16 first appearance of James Proudstar
AKA Warpath although he was referred to as Thunderbird in this issue.
Issue 18 first appearance of Warlock & Demon Bear (first full appearance)
This issue not only kicked off one of the series best story arcs but also benefits from a classic Bill Sienkiewicz cover.
New Mutants 26 first full appearance of Legion.
The son of Charles Xavier
Issue 86 first cameo appearance of Cable.
Cameo of Cable on the last page
No 93 Classic Battle against Wolverine.
Classic Cover and battle between these two popular X-Men
Issue 99 first appearance of Shatterstar & Feral.
Issue 100 Finale and 1st appearance of X-Force
Also available in a Gold 2nd Print and a Silver 3rd Print
There are several other first appearances of lesser characters for anyone who wants to speculate on future TV appearances etc.
Putting together a full set:
Despite the price of the two key issues, this is not a difficult series to acquire. Issue One is obviously sought after, but apart from that only issues 9, 14, 16, 18, 25 (Legion Cameo), 26, 86 & 100 are likely to cost more than £5 an issue at the time of writing (2019). However, bear in mind that things can change fast in the comics world
1st Appearance of Selene Gallio one of the oldest known Mutants
New Mutants Collected Editions
For those who prefer the convenience of having the stories in trade paperback (TPB) the good news is that virtually every issue has been collected in one volume or another:
New Mutants Classics Volumes 1-7 collects all the issues from 1-54 however some are currently out of print and so command high prices:
Volume 3 is scarce and expect to pay £100+ for a nice condition copy
Issues 55-85 have been gathered in collections such as Fall of The Mutants, Inferno and Curse of the Valkyries, however again some of these are scarce and highly-priced. Generally speaking, buying 1-85 as individual comics will be easier and possibly cheaper than sourcing the collected editions.
The bulk of the Liefeld issues are available in Cable and the New Mutants TPB which gathers issues 86-94 and while not cheap is a lot less than the issues individually and the remainders can be acquired via The X-Tinction Agenda TPB.
X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda
Collects issues 95-97
X-Force: A Force to be Reckoned With
Collects Issues 98-100
The above books are not cheap (especially the hardcover versions)
New Mutants Annuals
As well as the main series seven annuals were published. The first of these was in 1984 and it is quite sought after as fit featured the first appearance of the teleporting Rock Star (honestly) Lila Cheney. However, the real key is issue two as it introduced Psylocke to the X-Men Universe.
Future Value.
Like all comics and particularly more modern ones valuations can fluctuate significantly as new TV shows or movie appearances are announced, and similarly, a character can go out of fashion. Issues 87 and 98 are both currently highly valued, but far from rare. Their price has been driven up by a combination of popularity, movie appearances and speculation.
So if your motive for acquiring a set of The New Mutants was for investment purposes, then it is worth considering as although Deadpool is the star of the show there are plenty of supporting characters who could get their 15 minutes of fame. Thus there is a chance of some upward appreciation on the currently less-expensive issues. Also, there is a New Mutants movie in the pipeline which can’t hurt.
Other Tie In Series
Reading the X-Terminators mini-series (part of the Inferno saga) alongside this adds to the story, although not essential and the mini is relatively cheap.
So there we have it our quick guide to this popular Marvel series. For loads more comic related check out our dedicated Comic Site and try one of our growing range of Quizzes.
